Remember
by Paper Ring
Summary: It was the first thing she remembered seeing; that strange trilateral symbol with the ring directly above the pique of the triangle. She knew it had to be a part of her former life - whatever that was.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first chapter-fic. I am currently looking for a beta. If you think you are well-qualified and interested, please E-mail or message me. I don't bite :) Also, please review! Thanks so much. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate:SG1, the characters, or the ideas. All rights belong to MGM studios.  
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**The voices would not stop.

They continued to berate her, tease her, mock her, and torture her. She tried to make them stop - tried to force them to be silent. But it soon became obvious that there was nothing she could do. The voices weren't coming from her head it seemed. They were alive.

She tried to isolate a single voice – separate it from the confusion. She found one. It sounded casual and friendly – unlike most of the other voices. His tone was inviting and made her feel safe. The more she listened to him, the more she could begin to envision him. She wanted to reach out and touch him, to feel the sturdy bones in his cheeks, to touch the soft wrinkles around his eyes. But when she tried, he faded. His voice, his face – everything – was gone.

"Mas," he whispered in her ear and gently prodded her awake by pushing lightly on her shoulder. "You'll miss the mid-day meal if you sleep much longer."

She buried her face in the pillow in an attempt to hide the playful smile that was beginning to appear on her lips. The warm familiar blush in her cheeks was returning merely by the sound and scent of him.

He laughed, pulling her body away from the pillow, revealing her huge grin as she looked up at him. "Did you sleep well, Mas?" he asked.

Her gleeful expression faded and was replaced with a clouded, tortured one. "I keep having the same dreams," she whispered.

His face sobered as well as he leaned towards her, his deep blue eyes communicated genuine worry. "Perhaps you should see someone about this. I know a very good –

"No, Wyl," she shook her head, twisting the bed sheets beneath her. "I don't need doctors. I'm not sick anymore." She reached up to smooth a jet black lock of hair out of his face.

"But you keep having these nightmares. You can't expect me not to worry about that."

She sat up in the bed, smoothing out the back of her head as she attempted to choose her words. "I guess I'm not fully over it just yet. But I will be, and then the nightmares will stop."

Wyl smiled slightly. "Then will you marry me?"

She laughed nervously and playfully swatted at him. "Will you stop asking that?"

"Why?"

Rolling her eyes, she pushed herself off the bed and headed towards the wardrobe. "I told you why. Now get out, I have to change."

He lingered a bit on the bed, grinning at her mischievously. Picking up one of the decorative pillows off the settee, she hurled it at him, perfectly hitting him square in the face.

"All right, I'm leaving, sorry." He chuckled, ducking out of the room quickly before she could swing another one of her feathered weapons his way.

Once she heard the door shut securely behind him, she began changing into her usual day clothes. After slipping off her nightwear, she caught a glance at her bare arms.

She stood up straight and ran a finger across her right wrist where the symbol was written. She rubbed it with her thumb, testing its indelibility once again. But nothing rubbed off. Not that she wanted it gone. It was the first thing she remembered seeing; that strange trilateral symbol with the ring directly above the pique of the triangle. She knew it had to be a part of her former life, whatever it was. But no one could tell her what it meant. Not even Tolpa's greatest scientists - who were favored in intelligence far above any other scientists in the solar system – had even the slightest clue what it meant.

She sighed as she remembered the first few days of her troublesome life. They'd been fraught with panic as she tried to figure out what happened. The doctors told her that she had been in an accident that had caused her amnesia. But when she asked about her former life – her name, her family, where she lived – they did not know. Her face had been advertised all over the planet – asking people if they knew her. No legitimate answer came and she was left alone.

Like the first days, the first nights were vivid and memorable as well; the dreams were wild and confusing. Often letters, symbols and pictures were jumbled together. She often dreamt of sitting next to a body of water, holding a stick with a line attached that sank into the water. For some reason, she felt peaceful during that. But then it would suddenly swerve into a horrifying nightmare where she was running from man-sized serpents. She would awake covered in sweat and heaving with terror. Then she would cry. She would cry tears of sadness and loneliness. She could only dream what her life had been like before this. Who she knew, what she did and where she lived. Mas often wondered if she had a family – a husband, children, parents, siblings – but then she would remember that no one claimed her. And either she was a terrible person or she never had anyone.

After the second week, she began to finally accept what had happened. And she even began seeing it as a way to start over. Perhaps her life had been terrible before; maybe this would finally be a new beginning.

But there was only one thing missing from this new life – a name.

She didn't just want to choose one from the long list of traditional names in the Tolpan dictionary. She wanted her real name. And she was determined that – if she dug deep enough – she could figure it out.

She concentrated hard, writing out symbols that came to her mind on a notepad. Most of the ciphers meant nothing to her – except for three: A, M, and S.

When showing them to her new friend, Wyl, she discovered that these weren't in the Tolpan dictionary and he had never before seen them in his life.

But she could perfectly give the sound to the symbol. And after mixing and rearranging, she soon discovered that her name must be Mas. It was three characters, which fit perfectly into the Tolpan society and it sounded normal compared to other names she came by daily. It seemed as though everything had worked out and she was finally working towards the start of her new life.

But she would still stare at that symbol, day and night, desperately trying to search her memory for a possible clue as to what it represented.

A knock on the door interrupted her day dreaming and she quickly fastened the last few clips on her jacket. As she began putting away her nightwear, she called out. "You can come in."

Wyl swung open the door, leaning his head in slightly. "Are you ready for a meal yet?"

She nodded. "Give me a moment."

He gave a joking irritated groan before shutting the door behind him. She chuckled to herself as she began smoothing out her appearance in the mirror.

She gazed at her reflection for a moment, pondering her appearance. Mas did not even look like the rest of the Tolpans. All of the females grew their hair out and tied it in a secure bun just below the crown of her head. While hers was peculiarly cropped short, similar to the men's style. While she had considered growing it out to blend in and avoid the curious stares, she had grown to like it and became attached to it as another part of her enigmatic past.

After finishing gussying up, she and Wyl began their regular walk to the community dining area. Because of it being the only location of food, Wyl had made it a point to live close by so that the good seating was not all taken up by meal time.

Mas collected her mid-day meal contents and followed Wyl towards their customary seat by the window.

"Come to work with me today."

Mas looked up from her tray at his sudden suggestion. "What?"

"Come to my work today," he repeated, smiling. "I know you get bored staying in the house."

She picked up her utensil and eyed him. "I don't want to get in the way…"

"You said you were interested in science, right?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

She nodded. "Then perhaps that is where your expertise lies."

"But science covers a lot of fields," Mas said, taking a bite of her food. "Maybe –

He bent his head. "They found something." He interrupted her in a low voice. "They don't want the populous to know about it until they can ascertain that it's not dangerous."

"Then why are you telling me?" she hissed back, looking around.

He picked up her marked wrist and pushed the jacket sleeve off it to reveal the symbol. "I think you'll want to see it."


	2. Chapter 2

**_AN: I apologize for the amount of time it took for the second chapter. I'm back in school and it's taken up a lot of my time. Please know that I am STILL seeking a qualified and friendly beta. If you are interested, feel free to message me :] _**

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_**The trip to Wyl's office was a rather long one on foot. Though it didn't cause her any grief, Mas worried about him.

The man wasn't terribly old but he was gradually reaching the middle stage of his lifetime – what the Tolpans called "In Medius". After this phase of life, most were forcibly retired – the government and people not wanting any work to be tainted by elderly folk who might possibly be delirious with age.

But Mas couldn't see Wyl voluntarily stepping down when asked to. He enjoyed his job too much. Whenever he would speak of it, his whole face lit up with excitement and interest. She couldn't help but feel the same way. It was one of the things that had drawn them closer together – their love for science.

Despite her worries however, when she looked back, he was only slightly behind her and his face gave away no traces of exhaustion or strain.

As Mas turned back, a rush of wind tore through the streets and ruffled both of their hair and clothes. Looking up, she caught sight of one of the beautiful space crafts of Tolpa, a _Traba_. They were small but oddly shaped and their tan outer shell contrasting beautifully against the glorious blue sky. Something about the tiny ship picked at her – something that often happened when getting a feeling of Déjà vu she couldn't quite place. She longed to get a better look at the vehicle, to study the inside and look underneath the body to see if anything could possibly trigger something in her head. But the _Trabas _were given only to the highest in society, because of how few there were.

Getting into the building of Wyl's office was no small feat. Several people objected to seeing someone unordinary making their way through a secure and secret base. But her friend vouched for her, convincing everyone she could be trusted.

Feeling a tad unwanted and out of place, Mas only wanted to see the thing Wyl was speaking of and go home. The suspicious glares from the other scientists were starting to worry her.

They had to go through several heavy security doors – four, to be exact – before they finally reached their destination – a spacious white room filled with tables and stained canvases that hung over oddly shaped objects.

But the biggest hidden treasure was at the very end of the room.

It was at least two stories high and seemed to almost touch the ceiling of the facility. The canvas fell over the item in such a way, that it revealed its circular properties.

"What is it?" Mas voiced aloud as she stared at in awe, walking closer to it as she tried to take in just how big it really was.

Wyl followed closely behind her until she stopped and he stood next to her. "We don't know. It was found in one of the desert valleys a long way from here."

She looked to him expectantly and he smiled. Turning to one of his fellow scientists that had been right on their heels since the moment he spotted Mas, Wyl signaled something to him with his fingers.

The other man nodded and pushed a button.

Quickly, yet gracefully, the canvas was pulled over the object, showing only tiny pieces until the whole thing fell to the ground with a loud thud – revealing the amazing spectacle to her eyes. Simply put, it was a large ring. And there were markings etched on the sides of it but they were too far away and too vague for her to really see.

Almost immediately, memories of this ring began pouring into her mind, thudding against her head as if her past self was trying desperately to scream out the obvious connections. She gasped in surprise and hunched over in pain. Her head rattled and screamed at the image and she tried to force her way to the mental picture she could see in her mind.

There was water – lots of water – spilling out through the hole in this ring, it was swirling and bursting - a large whoosh extended out and then relaxed, flattening into it and settling like a peaceful puddle.

She blinked and when her vision was refocused, she saw Wyl staring at her and could feel his firm hand holding her back from falling face-down on the floor. "Mas, what's wrong?" he asked, bewildered.

She shook her head and gently pushed his hand away. "It's nothing. I…I think the food court had some spoiled food." It was a lie but she didn't want him rushing her away from this sight merely to take her to doctors that wouldn't be able to tell her anything. No, she had to see more of this. It incited something in her brain that made her feel connected to her past life. She had to know more.

"Why did you want me to see this?" she asked, wanting to change the topic but also genuinely curious.

She watched his expression reluctantly changed from intensely worried to skeptical as he moved towards the giant ring.

The structure was set on a platform that appeared to be made of wood, to hold the ring in place. He stepped up on it, carefully balancing his weight and hunched down towards bottom of it, placing his fingers on one of the symbols that were on the low side of the ring.

Something in the pit of Mas's stomach told her that no one should be anywhere near that thing. She wasn't quite sure why but it was a strong conviction.

"Be careful," she warned before she could stop herself.

Wyl looked up at her with a smile and then motioned for her to come closer.

Hesitantly, she began to walk forward, gradually dragging herself towards the ring.

When she finally made it to the top of the wooden platform, she bent down to his height to scrutinize what his hand was gesturing to.

Narrowing her eyes, she focused in on the character. To her utter amazement and confusion, the symbol firmly carved into the stone-like material was an incredibly familiar figure.

Quickly pulling back her sleeve and tilting her arm up towards her face, she compared the two ciphers. Sure enough, they were exactly the same and she even voiced the information aloud.

"This is why I thought it would interest you," Wyl said, looking towards her with an emotion written all over his face that she could interpret. "Maybe this…-he looked up at the object and waved a hand over it in a swooping manner-…ring can help us figure out who you were before…"

She nodded, interrupting his sentence. "But have you figured out anything - anything at all - that might tell you what this thing does?"

He shook his head. "We still have teams digging around the site this was found, to see if there are any writings or tablets that might explain it, but nothing's come up yet."

All of the sudden, a loud thud from above the facility resounded across the large room. The hanging lights on the high ceilings swayed in response and Mas hurried off the platform, dragging Wyl with her.

"What is that?" the other scientist asked aloud, looking up.

Mas turned to her friend. "You said this place was underground?"

He nodded but before she had a chance to ask another question, the huge vault door opened and a young man came barreling in, his face stricken with horror and shock. "Wyl, it's the public."

She watched as Wyl's expression hardened and a flash of fear lit up his eyes before he quickly masked it. "Jer," he turned to the frightened scientist that continued to look straight up, "take Mas to the Safe Room."

Jer nodded and reached forward to grab her arm to lead her, but she refused it with a wave of her hand. Stepping towards Wyl, she demanded. "What's going on? What does he mean?"

His face contorted in frustration and blatant worry. "There's no time for explanation. You need to –

"I _need_ to know what's going on, Wyl," she insisted, setting a firm expression.

He hesitated but an impatient yell from the young man at the door hurried him along. He took one more second to think and he took her hand, running with her towards the door. Mas could hear the frantic steps of Jer behind them. "I'll explain on the way."

Another loud explosion erupted on the surface and the entire room shuddered. Wyl rushed towards the doorway and stood beneath the solid arch, protecting her body with his own while the other two men hurried to unlock the next door.

Mas looked to her left only to see that the ceiling lights were now crashing down to the floor, spewing glass in any which direction and dangerously close to where they stood.

Wyl pushed her through the door, followed her in and sealed the door behind him.

"What does he mean 'it's the public'?" she shouted the question above the rattling of the walls and the new sound of shouting just above them.

Jer had pushed open the door and they were piling through, fighting their way to the next sealed gateway. "The public...people…citizens…they're rioting!" Wyl yelled in response as he assisted the others in pulling the large handle of the door.

"Rioting?" she repeated. The Tolpans had always been a peaceful people for as long as she knew. There had never been any reports of murder, attacks or riots for that matter. Why would they choose now?

"They must have found out about the ring!" Jer spoke up, his face lighting up with realization as he looked at the other two men.

Then Mas understood. The people had found out about the secret facility somehow and about the secret technologies and findings that they had hidden for who-knew-how-long. And now they came to exact vengeance for being misled and shielded. They were afraid – afraid of the unknown.

"What are they doing?" she asked as she finally lent a hand and helped successfully unseal the next door.

"Setting off explosions," Wyl replied simply as they reached the last door. "They're trying to cave in the facility."

Mas didn't even want to think about the reasons why regular citizens had their hands on such powerful weapons – but she did know that that much force would surely end their lives quickly if they didn't get out.

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**_Reviews are MOST appreciated! They are fuel for my motivation!_**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapters are coming slowly. School is very invasive on my creative time, but such is life. I think someone offered to beta but I somehow lost the message and forgot the username. If the person is still interested, you can contact me by PM once again and I'll give you my email. For the rest of you, Mas is on a break and you get to see what's going on back at the SGC. Not quite as interesting, admittedly, but useful and informative in the long run. Please read and review!  
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**"O'Neill."

Dammit, he thought. Of course it was just his luck to be caught by the SGC equivalent of a truancy officer.

Appearing as casual as he could, he stopped and turned to see the Jaffa walk down the corridor. "What is it, T?"

"I believe it was expressed by General Hammond that SG1 were to conference with him in precisely one minute."

Jack looked down at the invisible watch on his wrist. "Would you look at that?"

"Are you attempting to evade the meeting, Colonel O'Neill?" Teal'c asked, though his expression showed that he already knew the answer.

He sighed in frustration. "Yes, Teal'c, it would seem that way wouldn't it?"

The warrior tilted his face up in acknowledgement before speaking again. "I assumed you in particular would want to be present at such a time as this."

O'Neill spun around so that he was completely facing him. "Tell you what, I'll attend these goddamn things they call 'meetings' when they actually have a plan that they're willing to go with. But until then, I'm not about to waste my time sitting around a table while Carter is god-knows-where doing who-the-hell-knows-what."

Instead of frowning disapprovingly as the colonel was expecting, Teal'c merely lifted an eyebrow.

Jack raised his brow and shoved his hands in his pockets. "What about you?"

"I feel too that this planet's resources have not been extended to the proper amount to rescue Major Carter."

"So what do we do?"

Before Teal'c could reply, another voice piped up from behind the colonel. "I think I got it."

O'Neill turned to see Jackson walking towards them, studiously reading over various papers in his hands. "What's 'it'?"

Daniel looked up. "Well, where Sam might be. You see when we lost her on P3X-9454, I went back there with a team and I found some ruins –

"No kidding." The colonel mumbled.

- that looked exactly like what I found a few months ago on P5X –

"Daniel!" Jack interrupted as he closed his eyes and moved his hands to his temples. "For the sake of _my_ lack of interest in your 'fascinating' archaeological digs, skip ahead to the part about Carter."

Jackson complied. "She wasn't kidnapped," he concluded. "She went willingly."

xXx

"Dr. Jackson, are you trying to tell me that a seasoned officer such as Major Carter would go AWOL by choice?" Hammond was leaning forward on the table, hands clasped together in front of him and his usual skeptical expression was directed pointedly towards the eccentric archeologist.

"Well, yes and no, you see –

"Daniel…" The colonel started but the other man held up a hand in his direction.

"Jack, please."

The General nodded in O'Neill's direction to also request that he allow Jackson to continue.

Shrugging, he stood up to pour himself a cup of coffee. He hoped this was the real deal. He'd planned to sit at home and wallow in his plethora of beer and drown his sorrows while tuned into another entertaining re-run of the Simpsons. But now Daniel's shenanigans had brought him here once more – he could only hope it was worth it. If it meant getting Carter back, it was.

"As I was saying, Sam could have _thought_ she was going willingly or she could have been either coerced, deceived, brainwashed, etcetera. All the same, it required for the victim to succumb with full cooperation."

"Succumb to what exactly?" Hammond asked - his hands lifted up in an impatient gesture.

Feeling the pressure, Dr. Jackson's fingers tapped quickly against the table, something the colonel had often seen him do when trying to speed up his mind and skip the interesting discovery channel version of the explanation. "Okay. We all know that the Ancients deposited life on a number of planets – including Earth. What we don't know is exactly where and how to get there. Not every planet is accessible through a Stargate – at least not if they're outside the network."

The General's brow furrowed and he leaned back in his chair, clearly as lost as Jack felt. "What are you suggesting, Doctor?"

Daniel stood and O'Neill had to hold in a groan. It was usually times like this where Jackson got over excited about something and left everyone else behind in a cloud of dust.

"We only know of planets within the network of Stargates the Ancients have set up. There have been some that have buried theirs, yes, and some that don't even have a gate to begin with." He stated, using his hands to demonstrate two different sections.

"Ones that have been deemed unlivable, yes," Hammond put in, his patience visibly draining. "But I fail to see what this has to do with –

"I'm getting there, I'm getting there," Dr. Jackson waved his hand and closed his eyes. "Okay, but what if the Ancients wanted a certain planet to only be accessed by who the Ancients themselves chose? Like…a special planet that they didn't want tainted by unwelcome and unwanted visitors."

The colonel sighed loudly, finished off his coffee and returned to his seat next to the strong-but-silent Teal'c. "I'm sorry, was this supposed to be about rescuing Carter or the amazing yet fraught-with-mistakes record of everything the Ancients have ever done?"

Daniel grimaced at Jack's disturbance and then glared at him over the top of his glasses. "If you'd just let me finish…"

O'Neill rolled his eyes and waved his hand dramatically.

"Alright," Jackson looked back over his notes to get back to where he was. "So the Ancients had this special planet – the 'chosen' planet, if you will. From what I've deciphered from the writing on the ruins –

He pulled a couple sheets of paper and put them on the table. The colonel leaned in to see the printer-faded pictures of alien scribbling on some ancient rock – as per usual.

"Apparently, this planet we visited, P3X-9454, was the only gateway into this special world."

"How so?" Hammond questioned, now seeming genuinely intrigued.

Dr. Jackson held up a finger and pulled another photo from his papers and placed it on the table. When Jack saw Teal'c lift an eyebrow – the equivalent of human shock – he moved closer to see for himself.

In the photo, there were two large stones, covered in thousands of symbols. But what was interesting was what was in between them – a faint, watery curtain.

O'Neill pointed. "Is that a –

"While it may seem so, it's not a Stargate," Jackson interrupted, placing a less interesting photo of the symbols on top of the picture. "There's no DHD and when Lieutenant Adams touched it, he didn't –

"Wait – someone _touched_ it?" the colonel asked, bewildered.

Daniel looked sheepish. "I turned my back for one second and –

"Continue, Dr. Jackson, please," the general requested.

He obeyed and went on. "Anyway, it doesn't seem to serve much purpose. Adams' hand went right through the projection to the other side. It doesn't seem to be much of a wormhole."

"Because it does not lead to another planet," Teal'c interjected.

Jackson hesitated. "Sort of. The portal supposedly leads to this special planet but it requires a certain mindset when coming in contact with it – something Sam obviously had and Adams, well, didn't."

"What sort of mindset?" Jack asked as he made a mental memo to give Adams the biggest lecture possible on dealing with alien technology that hadn't been tested, however hypocritical it was.

Daniel winced. "I'm still not quite sure but the Ancient writings seem to suggest that one has to be completely willing and wanting to go to this planet and also has to be..._accepted_ by the 'higher divinity'."

"Meaning the ascended," Hammond concluded.

Dr. Jackson shrugged and nodded.

"Why would Carter _want_ to go through that portal?" O'Neill demanded. While the Major was a persistent scientist, she was also military and wouldn't ever, under any circumstances, do something like that.

"That's why I was suggesting that it wasn't one hundred percent her willingness," Jackson said. "She had to have been brain-washed or deceived…or something."

"But wouldn't the Ancients have prepared themselves for something like that?" General Hammond asked.

The colonel punctured holes in his Styrofoam coffee cup with a pen. "Unless _they _were the ones doing the brain-washing," he mused.


	4. Chapter 4

_I'm back! Sorry, sorry! It's just...school (Number one excuse in the book, I know, but trust me...I'd much rather be writing this). _

_Please enjoy and leave many, many reviews! :]  
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"Mas! Mas!"

_ There he was again. He was smiling crookedly at her, mischievously almost. She tried to speak, but she found herself unable so she settled for smiling back. _

_ They were in a long hallway, dimly lit by few sputtering bulbs. There were exposed wires in the ceiling and the floors were scuffed._

_ "Come home," he said softly. It wasn't a command, it was a plea._

_ She wanted so desperately to ask where home was and if he was a part of that home, but she still found herself struck dumb._

_ "I'll find you," he promised._

"Mas!"

The dream faded away and was replaced with a stark, horrid reality of cave walls falling around her. Her head hurt and she could feel the warm liquid flowing down her forehead.

She wiped it away as she looked up to see Wyl's concerned face towering over her as Jer tried to pull his arm in the direction of escape.

Mas stood up quickly, and immediately regretted it when everything began to spin and she felt herself falling again. But Wyl caught her and began dragging her to safety.

She drifted in and out of consciousness, often remembering tidbits of the dream she had had earlier as she desperately, even now, tried to determine what each detail meant. Was it a flashback? Or was it simply a result of a concussion?

It wasn't long before she saw a ray of light coming from around a corner. The other scientists were rushing about, clambering and mercilessly shoving past others on their way towards the exit, selfish thoughts bubbling to the top as survival instincts kicked in.

Wyl pushed her towards the exit and Mas heard him instruct Jer to get her to safety.

"Where are you going?" she managed to scream out, though the very act caused her head to nearly explode in pain.

"I'll be right behind you," he assured, rushing to the back of the crowd. As soon as she and Jer were out in the open, she saw Tolpan Rescue Agents pulling people to safety as the Security Force held back the violent protestors.

The explosions still went off and her head was shielded by a Rescue Agent as he hurried her safety.

She looked back just in time to see the entire facility collapse in on itself, creating a massive sink hole in the outline of the underground facility.

Mas felt a wild scream well up in her throat and she fought the urge to throw herself at the rubble and dig frantically.

Everyone; the Rescue Agents, the Security Force, the scientists, even the previously loud and uncaring rioters were all silent as they looked upon the ruins.

A deathly quiet seemed to spread over all of them and everyone was shell-shocked by what they saw.

As Mas turned to see the protestors, she saw that there were tears in their eyes and their jaws were dropped. Little flames scattered about the dirt where the explosions had set off small sparks and no one moved.

"Murderers!" someone shouted and soon a whole group of simple onlookers of the tragedy rushed towards the rounded up rioters, anger on their faces and violence in their minds.

Mas watched in horror as the Security Force was forced to resort to brutality to now protect the protestors from the aggressive civilians.

"This was a secret facility to hide things from people like you and I!" one tall Tolpan spoke from the group of protestors, "if there hadn't been any secrets, this would not have happened!"

Some stopped with their furious rushes, startled by what they were hearing. Others tallied on, still fueled by their rage at what they had seen.

"This is ridiculous," Mas heard Jer hiss as he stepped forward to grab the arm of one of the Rescue Agents. "There could still be people alive down there! You have to go help them!"

The man Jer had shook seemed to be brought back to reality and suddenly remembered his job. He quickly rounded up the other agents and they hurried towards the wreckage.

xXx

Several hours later, the fires and fighting had been quelled and the only people left were the Rescue Agents and a few scientists who had made it out alive, anxious to see if their comrades had been spared as well.

Mas sat with Jer on the side, looking over the horrible scene with a mixture of emotions ranging from fear to anger.

They had pulled out two scientists in the hours they had waited – one woman and one man – both of which were critically injured and the question of whether or not they would survive was almost a sure negative from the whispers Mas heard.

"Perhaps we should go home," Jer finally suggested. "If they find Wyl, they will let us know."

Though Mas could sympathize with Jer's wanting to stay away from the scene they had been staring at ad infinitum, she couldn't share the same desire. She'd sleep here if she had to. "You can go home, I'll stay."

He sighed and wrung his hands nervously. "I cannot leave you here by yourself. I will stay."

Mas smiled. "I'm sorry Jer, I know you're tired but I can't bring myself to leave. I mean, just knowing that Wyl is possibly out there – alive…I have to stay. And even if he's dead – I just have to know."

The scientist smiled in return. "You know, Wyl would always talk about you. He would tell me of your great talents and the even greater mystery surrounding your origins. He thought that if he could find out where you came from, then you could be happy about where you are."

She sighed and smiled grimly. "He always wanted us to have a life together – but I've been so reluctant about it. I thought it would be unfair for him to spend the rest of his life with someone who didn't even completely know who they were themselves. I shouldn't have –

Jer put a hand on her shoulder. "Do not worry about the past and what you should have or should not have done – you will never quit if you do. And if Wyl _is_ alive, you will be able to see how precious life is and how insignificant some things can seem in comparison."

Grinning, Mas looked away. "I didn't know you were so philosophical, Jer. When I first met you, I thought you were just another one of Wyl's little scientist friends who didn't want me around."

He shrugged. "Maybe I was. But because of his admiration for you, I already had a pretty good idea of what kind of person you were. Wyl never approved of anyone, really – that is, until you came along."

"Really? I knew he was always elbow-deep in his lab work for a good portion of his life before, but he never told me he was anti-social."

Jer laughed and smiled. "He would never admit it to anyone but he hated people nowadays. He much preferred people back then and would much rather learn about what they did then than about what we do."

Mas simply raised her brow but did not answer. She couldn't understand that mindset.

Letting out a shaky sigh, she watched as the Rescue Agents still wandered about. One of them shouted to another about finding something. At first, Mas ignored it. There had been a lot of those pronouncements that turned out to be dead bodies in the end. But when the same Tolpan declared that whatever they found was 'still alive', she couldn't help but run towards the scene and try to help – even if it wasn't Wyl, a living body would give her a fresh sense of hope.

Ignoring Jer's protests behind her, Mas hurried towards where several agents had gathered.

"Where are they?" she asked, trying to see what they were looking at.

One of them pointed to a deep ditch underneath a rather large piece of rubble from the facility. Flattened by the piece of wreckage was a man – his face horribly bruised and scarred. He was coughing, which Mas guessed was the only way the agents knew he was alive since for some reason they all refused to go near him.

She hurried over and pulled at the obstructing object that was literally crushing the life out of the poor man.

Once she was down there, the other Tolpan men followed and began attempting to help free the survivor.

It wasn't long before she was joined by Jer and after a long grueling, sweat-inducing process, the man was free. He tilted his head slightly to look up at them.

When Mas saw his full, horribly disfigured face, she collapsed to the ground and cradled him in her arms. "Wyl?"

The agents wasted no time in wrenching him from her grasp and shipping him off to the nearest medical center. She was not far behind.

xXx

After not much convincing, Mas had sent Jer home. He'd been there far too long and the exhaustion was beginning to show as he stumbled after her, anxious to know of Wyl's fate too.

Though it didn't take much to entice him back home, she could see that he truly didn't want to go.

Once she was alone, she set to work convincing the medical staff to let her see Wyl. It didn't take much, at least not after she had waltzed in uninvited. The staff knew better than to bother her after that point, they simply asked that she stay out of the way.

The disfigurations on his face had completely healed, thanks to the dermal regenerator that was typically used in such medical facilities.

He was unconscious and breathing slowly. Mas crept forward to swipe a timid hand across his features. He looked so peaceful and innocent, and for the first time, she noticed how much younger than her he really was.

In Tolpan society, however, that was custom. The females would generally be older so that they had more experience in family matters and were well-learned enough to instruct offspring, while males were usually just entering their adult term of life, fresh into their profession.

But Wyl wasn't much younger than her, perhaps only a decade or so. But it seemed like even more as she looked at him lying on the bed, weak and vulnerable.

He always had his guard up with his nose in a book. To seem him like this was so strange and unfamiliar.

Mas choked back tears and looked away.

One of the medical staff entered and saw her expression immediately. She informed Mas that she was the chief physician and would make sure that all the survivors of the wreckage would get the best and most immediate care.

"But what about him?" Mas asked, crossing her arms over her chest and gazing at him once again. "I mean, he'll be okay, right?"

"He will be healthy in no time," the woman assured. "He is healing rapidly. I am sure his natural cellular regeneration will do the rest …" she trailed off, looking at Mas with her brow furrowed.

"What is it?" she asked self-consciously, wiping her hand across her forehead to see what the doctor was staring at. Her hand returned in front of her eyes to see that it was covered with caked blood dust.

"Did you hit her head?" the physician asked, drawing her fingers to Mas's temple and looking at the wound herself.

"Yes," Mas remembered. "I got knocked out when we were trying to escape the facility; a piece of rock or something must have hit me."

The doctor's lips screwed up and she picked up a dermal regenerator lying on the tray table – probably the same one they had used on Wyl. She scanned the device over Mas's temple – first slowly and smoothly, then quickly and wildly until she threw the device back down in frustration.

"What's wrong?" Mas asked, now beginning to feel worried.

"You are not healing." She informed slowly, with amazement and a trace of horror in her eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

"Jack, please stop doing that."

"Doing what?"

Daniel rolled his eyes and returned to reading his book. But, sure enough, less than five seconds later, he felt another tiny paper ball ricochet off his cheek. "Jack!"

"How can you read at a time like this, Daniel?" the colonel asked, looking completely amazed and angry at the same time.

Jackson took off his glasses and rubbed his wrist across his eyes. "I'm reading to help Sam. That's my job."

"Your _job_?"

"Yes," Daniel looked at O'Neill solemnly. "When some sort of puzzle needs solving, I read. And when some sort of alien needs killing, you kill."

"So what you're saying is…?"

"Your expertise isn't needed quite yet."

Jack scowled and rolled up yet another paper ball. "I hate not doing anything."

"Have you found anything of interest, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c stoic presence entered the room.

In frustration, Dr. Jackson slammed the book shut and set it on the table. "There are absolutely no references in any sources we have to a 'secret' planet enterable only by willing participants! Nor anything about why an Ancient might want to brainwash someone…"

"As you know, many independent Ancients have proven not to be rational, therefore their reasons may not be written anywhere." Teal'c suggested.

"You're saying a rogue Ancient might have done this?" Daniel asked.

"Happened before," Jack offered. "Wasn't there that one that had a thing for Carter?"

"But that's not the point," Dr. Jackson went on. "At least he had no malignant intent. Whoever did this did so without Sam's consent and obviously has some moral values to sort through."

"So much for not interfering," the colonel mumbled and stood up. "Now what?"

Jackson sighed. "We can't do anything."

xXx

Mas could see the physician and another doctor conversing deeply in the next room, both looking frighteningly confused and worried.

The whole situation scared her. Why was she not healing? Perhaps the device malfunctioned? But then, why did the doctor look so terrified of her?

It had been after a long period of waiting when the woman came back into the room, tailed by the other physician she had been talking with.

Mas looked up and tried to read their expressions but they were blank and unreadable. She stood. "Did you figure it out?"

The first physician looked to their companion before returning her attention to Mas. "At first we thought the device was damaged but upon further study, we found out that it's not the dermal regenerator that is the problem."

Mas scoffed. "So you're saying _I'm_ the problem?"

The doctor shook her head. "We're not sure what's going on right now and we'd like to run a few tests…"

"You need to run tests on Wyl," Mas interrupted, "and not just him – everyone that was in that horrible incident. You have to help them."

The other physician spoke up now. He was very young and looked as though he was having a hard time making eye contact. "Your friend is the only one found in the wreckage who survived. You and the few others who made it out are the only ones."

She felt a hole being ripped through her. Tens, perhaps hundreds of people had died – murdered in a fiery, frightening death while she got out scot-free.

Forcing the tears away, she bit her lip. "Fine. Take all the tests you want."

After they had taken their sample, Mas was once again left alone with an unresponsive Wyl.

She couldn't sit next to his bed and hold his hand or even try to talk to him. It was all just too hard. She had to stand from a distance.

When he finally awoke though, she couldn't be closer to him.

She told him what happened as best she could but by the time she had finished relating the events, his face was twisted in a worried expression.

"How many?" he asked.

Mas bit her lip. "I don't know. A lot more than those who were saved."

Wyl laid his head back on the pillow, staring at the ceiling. She saw flashes of anger in his eyes that she knew he was fighting to control.

Just as she was about to add some comforting words to his trauma, the physicians arrived once more, this time their faces were filled with something other than confusion, it was an emotion she couldn't quite pinpoint. But she could tell it wasn't good news they were bearing.

"We know why the dermal regenerator didn't work on you," the woman said. She casted a wary look towards Wyl before continuing, "I'm afraid the results are slightly…alarming."

"Whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of Wyl," Mas assured. "Go on."

"Is it true that you have no memory of any family or a preceding life before about three months ago?"

She nodded. "Yes – I was told there was an accident…"

The woman looked unconvinced, as did the young man.

"What is it?" Mas demanded, beginning to become more and more fearful as the seconds ticked by.

The female physician decided to take precedence over the matter and finally came out with it: "Your sample of blood did not correlate with any of the Tolpan samples we have on file."

"What are you saying?" Wyl finally spoke up, looking from Mas to the physicians with a worried look. "Are you saying she's not Tolpan?"

The woman shook her head. "You are very similar to us but you are not from this planet, and your genetics did not evolve the ways ours did, which would explain the reason the dermal regenerator had no effect on your cut. Your body could not react the proper way."

Mas shook her head. "I don't understand. How is this possible?"

"This is very strange to us," the woman replied. "In all of Tolpan history, not once have we encountered anyone with even the slightest bit of change in their genetics. We are all Tolpan and always have been."

Running a hand through her short hair, Mas groaned. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"Was there something with you that you found after the accident? Papers? Identification? Anything?" the younger man attempted.

Mas bit her lip, considering the consequences before she finally pulled her sleeve up to her elbow, flipped her arm over and revealed the strange etching on her wrist. "This is all."

The physicians leaned over to peer at the marking but she could tell that it meant nothing to them. "Have you tried –

"No one has ever been able to tell me anything about this symbol," she interrupted. "It means nothing." She had considered telling them about the symbol on the ring that was strikingly similar, but decided it was best to withhold _some_ information.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Wyl spoke up. "Please don't tell anyone."

The pair looked confused. "Why not?" the woman asked. "This is astonishing – a groundbreaking part of Tolpan history!"

"They will become frightened and might hurt her," Wyl replied steadily as he cast a brief look in her direction before turning it back to the doctors. "You saw what happened today when the people discovered something different. Don't tell anyone."

The combination of sternness and pleading in his voice was enough to make the two relent and they left them alone.

Mas was dumbfounded and couldn't even wrap her mind around what she'd just learned. She had always known she didn't belong, but that was possibly because she had strayed so far from where she had been. But now she knew that she was from farther than anyone on Tolpa had ever imagined.

"So you are from another planet," Wyl broke the silence, and her musings, "why should that matter?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, astounded. "It matters a great deal!"

He shrugged. "How?"

"In case you haven't noticed, I have no idea who I am," she sat at the foot of his bed. "You don't know what that's like. I'd always been worried for the reason why no one had ever stepped up to claim me as their family. Now I know."

"But then why would you come here?" he asked. "Why would you come to our planet? What business do you have being here?"

Now it was her turn to shrug. "I wish I knew."

They were quiet for awhile, lost in their thoughts and attempts to connect different pieces of the puzzle that was Mas until finally, Wyl thought of something.

"Why is it that we are just finding out about this now?"

"I've never been in a hospital before now…and when I was found," she replied.

"Wouldn't the hospital that had located you have found out? Why didn't they tell you then?"

Mas's eyes widened. "They never said a word to me. How could they not have known? If I was in an accident, I had to have needed the dermal regenerator – and when that didn't work, they would have eventually –

"Maybe they did know," Wyl cut in, his excitement getting caught up with hers. "But they didn't tell you."

She stood up. "I have to go back to that hospital. They know something – something about where I came from."

He grasped her hand before she could run off. "Wait, please. Let me go with you."

She looked down at him. "You can't. You need to stay here – you were badly injured."

He waved off her concerns with a twitch of his head. "I'll be fine in a couple days. It'll only take a few hours for my bones to regenerate. Please, wait? I know this is about you but I want to know just as much as you do."

"Why?"

He smiled. "Because it's the reason you don't want to marry me – so perhaps when you find out where you came from and who you are, we can finally have closure."

Mas didn't want to wait. Thoughts were spinning in her head and accusations towards the doctors at that hospital were dying to be spat out. But she loved Wyl. And he had just saved her life as well as several others'. The least she could do was hold back until he could join her.

xXx

"Welcome back, SG1," General Hammond greeted. "How'd it go?"

Jack took off his sweaty cap. The planet of P8X-9172 was generally a hot one, and the natives didn't seem to feel the need to take shelter in the climate. Therefore, a long day in the sun plus Daniel jabbering on in some native tongue equaled a very hot, very tired and very discouraged Colonel O'Neill. Nevertheless, getting Carter back was crucial and apparently whatever Daniel had learned was imperative to that mission – so imperative, in fact, that they had to wait to get back to the SGC before he could impart his superior knowledge.

"General, if you don't mind, we'd like to discuss this with you in the briefing room?" Daniel cut in, his breath even and paced, as though he wasn't even affected by the heat.

The general nodded and led the way. O'Neill couldn't help but mutter a sarcastic "_we_?" to Teal'c before falling in line behind them.

His face was on fire from drastic sun burn and he was pretty sure there was sand in places he didn't even know he had. Whatever Daniel had to share with the class had damn well better be worth it. He just wanted to kick whoever's ass was responsible for Carter's disappearance and nail her boots to the floor of the SGC so she could never leave again.

Thankfully, someone had noticed the dehydrated looks of the team and had placed lovely bottles of water about the conference table. Jack finished his before Jackson had even started talking. He tuned in about twenty seconds into the debriefing.

"Of all the planets near the planet Major Carter had disappeared, this one was the farthest. But they're telling the same story the nearer ones have told."

"People are disappearing," Hammond added in.

"Right," Daniel nodded. "_But_ they have experienced something that none of the other planets have told us about."

"And what's that?" the general seemed to be just as frustrated as the withholding of information as Jack was.

Jackson seemed irritatingly delighted by their anxiousness as he slowly responded, "A Visitor."

"Please elaborate, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c finally cut in. Good ol' Stonewall Jaffa was even looking as though he wasn't beyond strangling the information out of the archaeologist.

"Ok," Daniel looked down as he gathered all the information in his head into one cohesive paragraph. "They received a strange Visitor a few – in our terms – months ago. Apparently, he never arrived by Stargate. He just kind of…appeared. Sound familiar?"

"Go on," Hammond prodded.

"Anyways, this Visitor was telling their entire planet of a wondrous place, a utopia of utopias, a nirvana beyond their wildest dreams. And he was inviting them to come, but they all had to be surveyed and experimented upon before they could be allowed into this paradise.

"Naturally, the people were afraid of this attached string, so they refused and asked the Visitor to leave. He became upset but left."

"Why wouldn't the other planets tell us about this?" O'Neill questioned.

Daniel shrugged. "Maybe because we didn't ask? All cultures are different. They weren't necessarily withholding information."

"Did he threaten them in any way?" the general asked.

"No," Jackson replied. "That's what they were most adamant about. They said that the Visitor had been an unusually positive presence about the people until he had become more demanding on them visiting this seventh heaven of his."

"What's your theory, Dr. Jackson?" Hammond asked, folding his hands in front of him on the table.

"This utopia he's talking about," Daniel started, "might be the world where Sam was taken."

"Through that water curtain?" Jack asked.

"But why would he want people to go there?" General Hammond asked, looking just as stumped as the colonel felt. "Didn't you say it was possible that it was a protected world by the ancients?"

"And that the process of getting through the curtain took copious amounts of meditation and preparation?" Teal'c interjected.

"Yes, yes," Jackson looked impatient. "But you're all missing the point. This guy, this Visitor…I think he's an Ancient."

* * *

_Hmm...so they found out that Mas/Sam is an alien finally. What kind of excuse is the hospital going to have? And what about this strange Visitor who might be an Ancient? What kind of link does he have to the disappearances? _

_Sorry this is so much information and so little action. The information is needed for the action to begin. And don't worry, all ye Jack-lovers, he'll appear again soon._

_Again, please don't forget to review! I love hearing from my readers! You guys mean the world to me! Cheers!  
_


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's Note: Sorry I've been so bad at uploading. To be honest, I've kind of hit a rock with this story. Writer's block, boredom, sheer forgetting where this story was going in the first place. This might be the last chapter simply because I can't figure out how to keep writing it. Thanks for whomever has stuck through thus far. Also, my apologies for poor writer's skill. On a more positive note, ENJOY!  
_

* * *

Mas sighed as she looked at the intimidating building in front of her. She glanced to her side to see Wyl gazing in awe as well. "You're sure this is the right one?" he asked.

She nodded as she looked down at the computer pad she had brought with her, giving directions to the first place she knew. "This is the one."

"It looks more like a prison than a hospital."

"Couldn't agree more. Do you remember what you're supposed to do?"

He nodded and tightened the bandage around his head with the red stain on the front. "Are you sure this will work?"

Mas shrugged. "That's how I came in, probably – if their story is correct."

They squeezed hands tightly before they walked into the building.

The lobby was a big empty room with one Tolpan woman at a desk in the back. Right on cue, Wyl started moaning in pain as Mas struggled to drag him toward the desk.

The woman stood up in alarm and looked frightened by their presence. "What are you doing here?" she demanded – not the tone of someone who worked in a hospital.

"He was in an accident," Mas explained. "He's dying."

"We're closed," the woman snapped. "You will have to take him out."

Mas thought quickly. "He's one of _them_," she found herself saying.

That seemed to have an effect. "Where did you get him?" the woman asked.

"Where do you think?" she bluffed. "Now hurry up before he dies."

"Are you sure he's one of them?" the woman seemed dubious. "He looks familiar…"

"The dermal regenerator isn't working, see?" Mas waved the regenerator she had 'borrowed' from the other hospital over Wyl's cosmetically created "wound". "He's obviously not one of us."

The woman nodded and came forward, helping her hold him up. "I will take him to the Rena room."

"I'm coming with you," Mas said. "I brought him in, I want the reward."

She stared at her with a strange look. "There is never a reward for Takers. What makes you so special?"

_Shoot_. "I'm coming." She repeated.

The first room they walked through looked like anything except what she expected. The room included lounge chairs and relaxing sofas, as well as a large pool and soft music playing in the background. There were several others there – all of them either sitting by the pool or in the chairs with blank, dead looks.

"What happened to them?" Mas asked before she could stop herself.

The woman loaded the still moaning Wyl onto a mobile chair. "You are a new recruit, I see. They didn't take you through the tour?"

Mas shook her head, still looking around in confusion.

"This is the Deleom Room," she explained. "They've just been wiped and their mind has yet to recover. They'll remain that way for days until they have self-awareness again. Until then, we must feed them and perform all their needs for them."

Mas noticed one male with dramatic cranial ridges. She pointed. "He doesn't look like us."

The woman now seemed annoyed with Mas's lack of knowledge. "That's what the cosmetic surgery is for. He's scheduled to receive it late this afternoon. Till then, try to be a little more cultured."

Instinctively, she rubbed her own forehead. Did she look like that before? All of this was very hard to take in and she was beginning to panic. It was all a lie. Her memory – no, her mind – had been wiped clean of everything she had ever known and replaced with something else. Would she ever remember her former life?

xXx

"I can't."

"Try harder."

"I am trying harder!"

"Not hard enough!"

"Maybe you want to do this?"

"I volunteered but General Hammond wants me to stay behind for plan B."

"You mean in case I don't come back."

"…yeah."

Jack sighed and rubbed his sweaty brow. "I've walked through this damn thing forty million times, Jackson. Why isn't it working?"

The archaeologist shrugged and pushed up his glasses. "According to the 'glyphs, all you have to do is be 'truly willing'."

"I _am_!"

"Then why aren't –

"If I may offer a suggestion," Teal'c cut in coolly. "Sometimes the preparation of the mind is in need of meditation, O'Neill. Perhaps you would benefit from a short session yourself."

"Somehow I don't think 'hmm'ing and 'haa'ing is going to help us rescue Carter, Teal'c, but thanks for the piece of advice."

"No, Jack, he might be on to something," Daniel remarked in his usual thoughtful tone. "Knowing Sam, she wouldn't be 'truly' willing to go through that thing so she had to have been coerced somehow – brainwashed."

"So you're suggesting I brainwash myself?" the Colonel asked incredulously.

"Obviously that's not possible and whoever did that to Sam isn't here right now, so you're going to have to do the next best thing – convince yourself that you want to go through."

"I don't have to convince myself," O'Neill gritted his teeth. "I _do_ want to go through. I want to get over to this Ancient Nirvana planet and drag Carter's ass back here to the real world. Why isn't that enough, dammit?"

Jackson held out his hands in excitement. "Perfect! Perfect! Okay, now channel that as you're walking forward. Think about wanting to bring Sam home. That's your sole purpose of this mission."

Jack looked at the watery curtain ahead of him. This mission was a bust from the very beginning but Hammond understood the team's resistance to accepting the impossibility of bringing Major Carter home. But if he could just do what Daniel was telling him, maybe – _just maybe_ – he could turn this into a successful mission and do just what they came for.

He closed his eyes and focused.

Samantha Carter.

Strong, brave, intelligent Samantha Carter.

_His_ Samantha Carter – the one he'd known for so long though it'd only been a few years since they first met.

The Major Samantha Carter who had saved his ass many times over in dangerous missions.

The Samantha Carter that would never accept the invitation to go fishing with him - even if she wanted to.

He needed to get her back. He needed to get her safe.

He felt himself taking a step forward that wasn't completely voluntary. A few more steps and he could feel the magnetic like pull of the water curtain – a similar feeling one felt when being pulled through the event horizon of a wormhole.

He welcomed the feeling and tried to focus solely on Carter.

He conjured up memories and dug through files of favorite pastimes with her – poking gentle fun at Teal'c, listening to her laugh at his corny jokes, being calmed by her diplomatic spirit when an alien native insisted on his not-so-favorite no-gun policy.

He could feel himself moving now, without walking. He was being swept away into another world – a world where he could find and rescue Samantha Carter.

xXx

Mas made sure to keep Wyl in her sights. Whatever this place was, it didn't feel safe enough to leave him at their mercies. Soon enough, however, they would discover that he wasn't actually "one of them". Mas still hadn't concocted a plan when that realization came to light.

So as the tour continued, she kept insisting on staying with her "captive" and sustained the pretext of wanting her reward.

Suddenly, an alarm blared over the entire complex. It was quite obnoxious but no one seemed terribly worried or anxious. Only a few select staff started walking briskly in a certain direction.

Mas decided against asking another "inexperienced" question and instead decided to follow them. She took the remote that controlled Wyl's chair from the woman and said that she would transport him to the proper facility.

"That is my occupation, not yours," she sniffed, taking the remote back.

Now Mas was at a loss of what to do. She couldn't leave Wyl alone but she had a strange feeling about the alarm – like she had heard it before. She needed to see what was going on.

Just then, her tour guide handed the remote to a younger woman. "I have to go take care of something; Nes will continue the tour for you.

Then she scuttled off to join the rest of the staff all seeming to be going through one door.

The new young woman seemed nervous and inexperienced. Mas hated to do it, but she knew she had to take advantage of the handicap.

"Actually, I need to take this one," she said clumsily but she still held out her hand for the remote in any case.

Nes seemed all too anxious to give up the device and gladly handed it over to her.

Sighing with relief, Mas took the remote and moved him to an empty room that seemed to be a private Deleom room. She knelt down and whispered in Wyl's ear. "I have to go. Promise me you'll be okay."

Wyl nodded and she slipped the remote into his hand.

As the last staff was heading towards the door, Mas followed casually behind her.

She followed them down a long hallway. A bright light was flickering from the room on the far end.

When they made their way into the room, Mas watched as the staff gathered in a circle around a circular ring in the center of the room from where the bright light was emanating. Inside the ring was a translucent water curtain, it appeared. It looked similar to what Wyl had found but it was a lot smaller and didn't seem to have the same markings.

She made sure to keep out of the sights of her former guide and tried to figure out what was going on.

Everyone was still and silent – staring at the object as if waiting for something. Mas did the same and waited.

Out of nowhere and with no warning, a man walked through the curtain – his eyes closed.

When he opened them, Mas had to put her hand over her mouth to keep from gasping aloud. It was him! The man from her flashbacks and dreams! The only person she could connect to her life from before!

He saw her and she stared back, not knowing what to do.

"Sam!" he exclaimed.

For some reason, she instantly recognized that as her name and embraced it. And she knew this man but something was blocking her ability to know exactly how.

She was suddenly aware of all of the staff staring at her in question but she didn't care about them.

"Who are you?" she asked, desperately wanting to know.

"It's me…Jack," he furrowed his brow as if it was confusing as to why she did not know that.

"His memory hasn't been cleansed," someone said aloud in confusion.

Sam then realized that she had made a mistake – the wiping of the memories happened before they came – and only when they came through the ring. Then why did that woman let her bring in Wyl through the front door?

"That would be my fault," a male voice said from behind the circle. They all turned to see a tall, lanky man with mussed hair and a brimming expression.

"Welcome, Jack O'Neill, I've been waiting for you."

xXx

"Who the hell are you?" Jack instantly had a dislike for this man. His cat-that-caught-the-canary expression made him uneasy and his god-like demeanor ticked him off.

"Sorry I haven't introduced myself, I'm Deo, but you both have met me before."

"I guess you just don't have a memorable face," O'Neill shrugged but kept his eye on Sam. They were getting out of there - just as soon as he gave this loon a piece of his mind. He moved his hand to his holster and discovered that the little nine-mill he was hiding had disappeared.

"Nice try, colonel," Deo frowned. "But I don't allow my Choices to bring weapons to my haven."

_How does this freak know my name _and_ rank? Another ridiculous alien that can read minds? I hate these ones._

Deo continued on as he turned to Carter. "I bet you're realizing a lot of things now, Samantha. One of them being how you were able to sneak in your boyfriend to spy on this facility when clearly you had the wrong idea as to how you got here?"

"I was in an accident, I –

"Wrong," he cut her off. "In fact, you were brought in just the same way our lovely little colonel travelled. Except I had wiped _your_ memory before you came. You didn't start realizing things yet until three days after you had sat in the Deleom room like a vegetable. There was never any accident and you are not Tolpan. Do you see now?"

"Why are you telling me this?"

Deo looked shocked as he stared between the two of them. "You mean neither of you have figured it out yet?"

Jack shifted his position, trying to restrain himself from going all primitive on this jackass.

"I have planned this from the start and everything – and I mean _everything_ – has gone exactly as I wanted it to," he laughed heartily with a huge smile on his face. He turned to a short woman on the left side of the circle surrounding him. "This woman let Samantha in even though it didn't make sense – but it did at the time due to my wonderful gift." He wiggled his fingers in front of his face and smiled again.

"You erase minds – how?" Sam asked.

Even if she didn't knew who he was, Jack could see that the real Carter was still in there – still asking questions and still the same annoying scientist.

The strange man chuckled. "Ha! –As if my gift could be explained in such simple terms for you to understand. That's why I wanted my own world. Humans and the like are so funny…and cute." He reached toward her and pinched her cheek.

Sam shook herself away. "Give me my memory back."

Deo leaned back and stuffed his hands in his pockets. Hissing through his teeth, he feigned sorrow. "I'm afraid I can't do that."

"If you can take it away you can give it back," O'Neill said, grinding his teeth.

"No, no, no. You see, that just isn't how it works – I wipe your minds so I can have a clean slate. Why would I want to give them back?"

"And you all just follow along what this joker says?" Jack asked, bewildered as he took a turn at the people surrounding him.

No one reacted or said anything and suddenly he realized that neither one of them had moved since Deo walked in.

"Blinded faith, I'm afraid," he said, shrugging. "I try not to impress upon them too much what's going on around them. It takes the fun out of it."

"This isn't a game!" the colonel felt his face grow red with fury. "These are real people and you use them like puppets."

"Yes, Colonel O'Neill," he grinned, "just like I'm going to use you."

The ceiling rolled in front of him and suddenly he was beginning to feel himself slip away. Desperately, he chanted his name, rank and number over and over in his mind – hoping to cling to something if his whole identity was erased.


End file.
